The Lewis River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 4, 2011 tributary of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

. The entire course of the river is located within the boundaries of

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, US. The river is named for

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

, commander of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

. The Lewis River begins at the southern end of

Shoshone Lake Shoshone Lake is a U.S. backcountry lake with the area of elevated at in the southwest section of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. It lies at the headwaters of the Lewis River a tributary of the Snake River. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser ...

and flows southerly approximately to Lewis Lake. This short stretch of the river is the only portion of the river where boating is permitted. The river reemerges at the southern end of Lewis Lake and flows in a general southerly direction through a steep canyon roughly paralleling the south entrance road toward the south entrance of the park. Below Lewis Lake the river passes over several cascades and waterfalls including Lewis Falls. Shortly before leaving the park, the Lewis River merges with the Snake River, changing the course of the Snake southward. The Snake soon flows out of Yellowstone into

Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately , the park includes the major peaks of the Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton Na ...

and Jackson Lake. The Lewis River has

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

up to Class VI and takes a drop at Lewis Falls, the most famous of many waterfalls and rapids on this short but scenic river.

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

and

Yellowstone cutthroat trout The Yellowstone cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri'') is a subspecies of the cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii''). It is a freshwater fish in the salmon family (family Salmonidae). Native only to a few U.S. states, their ...

are found in the river. File:Lewis River YNP1.jpg, Lewis River File:Lewis Falls.jpg, Lewis Falls

References

{{authority control Rivers of Yellowstone National Park Rivers of Wyoming Tributaries of the Snake River Rivers of Teton County, Wyoming Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States

See also

References